The four-Test series left us with sweet as well as not-so-pleasant memories, quite expected on a tour Down Under

We’ll start with ones for the tour diary. Moments that’ll make you flash a grin years later:

Pant, the baby-sitter

This was one of the rib-tickling moments of the series. When the two teams visited the Australian Prime Minister’s house in Sydney, Tim Paine’s wife handed over one of their kids in Rishabh Pant’s arms and the photo was shared on social media. There was nothing unusual about this, but it drew out chuckles. The moment had an interesting link to an episode between Pant and Paine at MCG.

Chirping from behind the stumps, Paine asked Pant if could babysit his kids at his Brisbane residence, so that he could go for a movie with his wife. Paine was taking a jibe at Pant, who had been dropped from India’s ODI squad.

Teacher Warne

Wrist-spin is a rare art. As it happens when two exponents of the art meet, there is a lot to talk and share. Yadav has, on more than one occasion, said Warne is his idol. During the first Test at Adelaide, Warne was seen explaining Yadav the subtleties of wrist-spin, including arm-rotation.

On the fourth day of the Sydney Test, when Yadav took a fiver, Warne was quick to congratulate him on social networking site: “Well bowled & congrats on your 5 wicket haul @imkuldeep18 also, thankyou for your very kind words - it’s been a pleasure to work with you & watch you bowl my friend!” Yadav had thanked Warne in an interview at the end of day’s play — a little birdie informs us that the Australian legend was all smiles hearing his praise.

‘Tim Paine speaking ‘

Before a press conference, journalists are asked to keep their mobile phones on silent or airplane mode. On the third day of the Sydney Test, an Australian reporter failed to heed the instructions. His phone buzzed loudly on the press-conference table even as Paine was addressing the media.

Despite enduring three tough days on the field, the embattled Australian skipper picked up the phone and answered, “Hello, this is Time Paine here.” The scribes were in splits, but Paine went to the extent of taking the message and communicating it to the journalist. Humour serves as tonic on tense days.

Oz co-captain Schiller

This seven-year-old has had to undergo multiple heart operations. His parents were looking for ways to keep his chin up. So when an NGO called Make-A-Wish approached the family, Archie expressed his desire to play for Australia. The NGO got in touch with Cricket Australia — it was beginning of a dream moment.

Archie was first inducted into the Australian team and, for the Boxing Day Test, he walked out with Time Paine for the toss. He was given the Baggy Green, an Australian team blazer, cricket whites and, most importantly, a lifetime of unforgettable memories.

There were some embarrassing situations too. Players lost their cool and some big names their minds. Let’s do a quick recap:

Shastri uncensored

Team India coach Ravi Shastri has been one of the voices in Indian cricket. He has been behind the mike for all the key moments in Indian cricket since the mid-1990s. But the seasoned broadcaster had a brain fade.

Speaking to Sunil Gavaskar on telly after India won a tense Test at Adelaide, Shastri forgot it was a family channel. Shastri said, “Thodi der ke liye toh go** muh mein aa gayi thi (For a while, we had our ba**s in the mouth).” Now Shastri might have got the sentiments right, but the words he used were crass to say the least.

Railways canteen

This former Australia leg-spinner, who’s now a commentator with Fox Australia, was on air when the topic of Indian opener Mayank Agarwal’s stupendous first-class record, which includes a triple-ton, came up.

O’Keeffe joked that Agarwal might have got those runs against railways canteen staff. If this wasn’t inane enough, O’Keeffe, while alluding to how difficult it is to pronounce names of some Indian cricketers, commented — which parent would like to name their kids, Cheteshwar Jadeja? We say many after Pujara scored three tons in the series. Ravindra Jadeja’s top-score of 81 in the series was more than any Australian batsmen.

Virat-Paine face off

In a series devoid of nasty episodes, the closest the two teams came to a faceoff was on the fourth morning of the second Test at Perth. The two were involved in friendly banter during the later stages of Day Three but, on this occasion, their chests almost collided. We are saying almost as there is no snicko-meter available to confirm the same.

Jadeja-Ishant showdown

Now this episode was a combination of stupidity on the part of two senior pros, who have been to Australia in the past, and the broadcaster trying to create unnecessary drama.

On the fourth day of the Perth Test, the duo was seen having a heated argument on the field. By the fifth morning, one of the two host broadcasters used the stump mike to capture the content of the conversation. Sharma could be heard telling Jadeja to shove his anger up his a**. Jadeja retorted, admonishing Ishant to keep his anger in control. They almost come to blows but were separated by Kuldeep Yadav.

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